Tylenol PM

[jaybird2001wi]

For you insomniac Brewerfan.netter's, I was wondering if you all suffer the same side effects I do when I take PM if I am restless at night. I don't feel sleepy at all, I just feel sedated and then wake up with a headache the next morning and feel as if I had a few the night before. Anyone have any bad stories about this OTC drug?

[gypcasino]

My sleeping pattern is all messed up and I took four Advil PM's a couple nights ago because I wanted to fall asleep at a normal time. Usually I feel slightly run down the next day but I've never had a headache or hangover feeling.

[thevaccinator27]

I would just take Benadryl. Same active ingredient that puts you to sleep as in Tylenol PM, but cheaper.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

I don't want to sound like someone with a problem here, but:

 

Two tylenol PM and a cold beer is the best "good night" potion anyone can come up with.... I never have side effects and wake up well rested... but only on mornings when I have time to sleep... if you wake up after only 5-6 hours with an alarm, you will feel groggy for a bit...

[NeedMoreFans]

Yes, I have the same problem. I take it, feel heavy eyed, but cannot sleep. I get very restless. I do not like that stuff. Give me a shot of whiskey to knock me out any day.

[dadofandrew]

I used to take it, but haven't for years. I'd sleep until 1 or 2PM, and still be groggy.

[DHonks]

I take Tylenol PM occasionally, but have recently shifted to Advil PM, since Advil tends to help me more than Tylenol (and I've heard ibuprofin is better for the body than acetamenaphine...although neither is good for it). I use them mainly during allergy season when I feel an allergy headache coming on, and I wake up the next day feeling a bit tired, but fully refreshed. All headaches and symptoms are completely gone. It just takes a few minutes to shake out the cobwebs when waking up. Neither gives me any headaches.

[brettac1]

Why not just kick it old school with NyQuil?

 

I definitely prefer that in the liquid form. I just drink it, get into a comfortable position in bed, and I'm out like a light within 15 minutes. It pretty much always makes me feel better, though I usually will wake up with a slight headache that goes away when I take a shower.

[DSFastball55]

I've tried them all, and Nyquil is by far the best in my opinion.

[bando1234]

Why not just kick it old school with NyQuil?

 

NyQuil will put me out like a light but I am usally wide awake by 2AM & wont start feeling sleepy until about 4AM & by that time I have to be up in one or two hours.

 

My wife once gave me 2 Nyquil daytimes for at work. On in the morning & one for around noon. I was a loan officer at the time & just feeling awful as I was neeting with member one after another so I decided to double up around 10 because I forgot my morning one. By 10:30 I could barely keep my eyes open.Yep she gave me nighttime. I was home asleep by noon.

[JimH5]

Most of my sleep problems have been as a result of being dehydrated. I usually down a bottle of water before sleep, and that does me well.

 

I may have to get up once to give some of that back, but then I collapse, and awake pretty refreshed.

 

I wouldn't recommend even OTC products for unintented uses. If you're sick that's one thing, but just to sleep? I'd pass on that one.

[gypcasino]

My buddy at work was just telling me that Ambien is by far the best sleep aid he's ever taken. It's not OTC but I don't think it'd be too hard to get a prescription.

[bullox]

I take Valerian root. Does the trick.

[Scooter1027]

Quote:

---

(and I've heard ibuprofin is better for the body than acetamenaphine...although neither is good for it)

---

 

As a PharmD, I can tell you this is not true. Unless you're taking well over 4 grams of acetaminophen in a day (bad for the liver), it is a nearly benign substance. Ibuprofen, along with all the other non-steroidal antiinflammatories like Aleve (naproxen), is much tougher on the stomach and kidneys (in big doses). Tylenol is usually the first thing recommended, and is the only thing routinely recommended in the elderly.

 

Anything containing diphenhydramine (Benadryl) usually gets the job done. Ambien is the top-of-line sleep aid, but it's prescription only and is a federally controlled substance (in the same class as Xanax, Valium, etc). Also, it's expensive. I would never recommend relying on a sleep aid night after night, but if it were a one-night thing, I would go with diphenhydramine (a generic brand Benadryl) before I would buy some name brand "PM" product with 8 different things in it.

[dadofandrew]

Nyquil, heh.

 

I took that for the first time in ages this past Fall when I had a terrible sore throat and other illness symptoms. I woke up all but hallucinating and out of it...at 11PM, 2 hours after I had gone to bed.

 

I'd rather be sick.

[1992casey]

jaybird, I think you're dealing with good old fashioned hangovers. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

I remember taking prescription pain-killers a long time ago, and I'd experience the same thing. First, I wouldn't sleep. Then, when I did, I'd need a full nine hours, or I'd feel exactly how you described. That's not convenient when you only have time for seven hours of sleep.

 

Anyway, while I'd submit that it's probably better to use Tylenol PM for pain rather than as a sleep aid, my suggestion would be to try taking a smaller dose.

 

As far as Scooter1027's message? while being a doctor of pharmacy is plenty to confirm the accuracy of his post, I can also confirm what he says from a patient's point of view.

 

About four years ago, I was suffering from pretty significant back pain for which I was prescribed Vicodin (Codeine plus Tylenol). Along with the Vicodin, I was instructed to take whatever Tylenol I needed to get a maximum daily dose. The amount of Tylenol I took was determined by the amount of Vicodin I needed on a given day.

 

Complicating all this was the fact that my back pain occurred in the middle of the SARS scare. While not all that many people had SARS, lots of people were getting ill with some kind of cold/flu at the time.

 

The point of all this is that while I was waiting an hour at the clinic's pharmacy for my back prescription to be filled, I caught whatever illness everyone else at the clinic and pharmacy had. So I ended up with Codeine cough syrup, too. (The cough syrup didn't contain Tylenol.)

 

The bottom line is that I had to 'keep score' every day. The amount of Codeine I ate or drank varied; I rarely took the maximum allowable in a given day. Most significantly, the doctor and pharmacist were much more concerned about how much Tylenol I took than how much Codeine I ingested.

 

Basically, I had to keep notes whenever I took anything, so I could keep the amount of Tylenol I took in check.

[burniebrewer]

I took that for the first time in ages this past Fall when I had a terrible sore throat and other illness symptoms. I woke up all but hallucinating and out of it...at 11PM, 2 hours after I had gone to bed.

 

Yeah, I'm not a fan either. I seem to remember waking up completely out of it a short time after falling asleep. I looked at the clock, saw 10:00 and had no idea if it was AM or PM.

 

For the most part, I like to "tough it out" when I'm sick and avoid feeling even more screwed up by medicine.

[logan82]

Yeah I don't take any medicine unless I am at work. Just some Advil for headaches and Sudafed for a stuffy nose, and it makes it so you don't feel so run down. Only at work though. Other than that I tough it out and try to get rest.

[mothershipconnection]

Anything containing diphenhydramine (Benadryl) usually gets the job done.

 

That's exactly what my uncle the pharmacist told us. It works just as well as brand-name OTC sleep aids, but I think I paid $6 for 200 pills at Sam's Club. If I'm not sick or in pain, I feel better about taking this than adding pain meds and other substances that I don't need.

[LouisEly]

One diphenhydramine and one sublingual melatonin (dissolves under the tongue, roughly $5 for 100 of them at GNC) an hour before bed usually works for me (and I'm doing it right now).

 

Two diphenhydramine (recommended dose) and I feel groggy the next day.